A
你相信人眼的颜色会变化吗？几千年前英国人的眼睛都是棕色的,而现在将近半数英国人的眼睛是蓝色的。
Blue—most common eye colour in Britain
Scientists have made a research of the eye colour of people in Britain. They discovered that the most common colour is blue. The scientists say that thousands of years ago, all British people's eyes were brown. The researchers found that 48 per cent of British people have blue eyes, 30 per cent of people have green eyes and 22 per cent have brown eyes. The area around Edinburgh in Scotland is the place where most people have brown eyes. The area around Edinburgh in Scotland is the place where most people have blue eyes. Over half (57 per cent) of those in and around Edinburgh have blue eyes. The south-west of England has the fewest blue-eyed people. Just 35 per cent of people living there are blue-eyed. The scientists say they do not know why some regions of Britain have a lot of blue-eyed people.
Alistair Moffat, the lead researcher of the study, said the number of people with blue eyes is increasing because people find them more attractive. This means people with blue eyes are more successful at finding a partner and having children with blue eyes. He compares blue eyes to the tail of a peacock, saying a more colourful tail will get a peacock more mates. Dr Moffat says people are attracted to the sparkle in blue eyes. He said light reacts with blue eyes to give a glitter effect. Darker eyes absorb light so they generally have less sparkle. Another scientist, Hans Eiberg, offers an explanation why blue eyes are popular. He said, "There is something attractive about blue eyes, maybe because they used to be so rare."
WORD BOX ＞＞
| common ['kɒmən] | adj. 常见的;普通的 | compare [kəm'peə(r)] | vt. 将……比作 |
| sparkle ['spɑːkl] | n. 火花;闪烁 | react [ri'ækt] | vi. 反应 |
| glitter ['ɡlɪtə(r)] | n. 迷人的力量;魅力 | absorb [əb'sɔːb] | vt. 吸收;吸取 |
COMPREHENSION CHECK UP ＞＞
Ⅰ. Match each word in the passage with the correct meaning.
1. increase
d
2. region
a
3. research
f
4. discover
e
5. popular
c
6. attractive
b
Ⅱ. Tell whether the following sentences are true (T) or false (F).
(
T
) 1. Scientists studied the colour of people's eyes in Britain.
(
T
) 2. Thousands of years ago, all British people's eyes were brown.
(
F
) 3. London has the highest percentage of blue-eyed people in Britain.
(
F
) 4. Scientists know why different areas of Britain have different numbers of blue-eyed people.
(
F
) 5. The number of blue-eyed British people is falling.
(
T
) 6. A scientist said blue-eyed people find partners more easily.
(
F
) 7. The scientist said people like the way light reacts in brown eyes.
(
T
) 8. A scientist said blue eyes are popular maybe because they used to be rare.
Ⅲ. Answer the following questions.
1. Where are the 57% of blue-eyed people?
In and around Edinburgh.
2. What questions would you like to ask the researchers?
Why do some regions have more blue-eyed people?
